Philadelphia Eagles: 3 players to target in the second round
I know what you’re thinking, another cornerback? But Josh Jackson from Iowa is a darn good one and could help the Eagles alleviate some bottlenecking at the position going forward.
As of right now the Eagles are expected to start some combination of Ronald Darby, Sidney Jones, and Jalen Mills at their three starting quarterback positions and while this is a pretty formidable trio, next offseason they will have to make a pretty daunting decision as to whether or not they can afford to resign Darby, especially with Mills becoming eligible for an extension the following year.
Currently the owners of easily the cheapest cornerbacks room in the entire NFL, with all four players on their rookie deals, eventually the Eagles are going to have to pay somebody, but by adding a player like Jackson, who many people assumed would already be off the board, they could ensure that they have at least three more seasons were two of their three starting cornerbacks are on cap-friendly rookie-scale second-round contracts.
And while he’s not a position of need, Jackson very well may be the best player available when the Eagles pick a 52.
A long, rangy corner with ball skills, Jackson looks like a prototypical starting outside corner in a man press scheme and loves to fight people at the line of scrimmage.
Jim Schwartz‘s kind of guy.
Though he only started for one year and may have slightly disappointed with a 4.56 40-yard dash at the 2018 NFL draft combine, Jackson’s tape is a different story. In 2017 Jackson, a converted wide receiver recorded an incredible 27 pass breakups and eight interceptions as the Hawkeyes number one corner, and that ball-hawking ability could fit amazingly in the Eagles secondary.
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Historically, the Eagles have gone out of their way to draft players who excel at breaking up passes, but the team really hasn’t had a player that opposing quarterbacks were afraid to throw to in quite some time. With their interception leader from 2017, Patrick Robinson, now playing in New Orleans, Josh Jackson could come in and strike fear into the hearts of opposing quarterbacks.
Pro Comp: Darius Slay